Gerunds and Infinitives: Helpful Teaching Tips

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Gerunds (the -ing form of a verb) and infinitives (to + the base form of a verb) are strange little creatures. They combine the action meaning of the verb with the grammatical function of a noun. They are useful because they allow us to use verbs as subjects and objects. But in the object position, the choice of gerund or infinitive can seem quite arbitrary. Also, because they have so many positions in a sentence, they can be confusing for students to learn. Fear not! There are some sentence patterns that ensure the correct choice of a gerund or an infinitive.

GERUNDS

1. as the subject of a sentence (S = Ger)

This position commonly calls for a gerund. While an infinitive is also possible, it is very formal and not common.

Shopping is my favourite hobby.

Working out has really improved my health.

2. following a preposition (Prep + Ger)

Here is another common gerund position. This rule applies to all prepositions, including ones that are part of phrasal verbs.

She thought aboutcalling him, but decided she wouldn’t.

They are planning ongoing to the party tonight.

3. as the object of a verb (V + Ger)

This is the one position where both gerunds and infinitives are commonly used. The choice of which to use all depends on the verb. Some common ones are: advise, avoid, enjoy, finish, practise, quit, and suggest.

He enjoyedlearning about gerunds.

My teacher suggestedstudying for the upcoming quiz.

*Don’t forget that some verbs take either a gerund or an infinitive with no change in meaning. While students don’t have to worry about these verbs, they should still be pointed out. Some common verbs are: like, love, and hate.

I loveeating pasta.

I loveto eat pasta.

INFINITIVES

1. following an adjective (Adj + Inf)

Though it is possible in some cases to use a gerund after an adjective, it is more common to use an infinitive, making it the better choice for students.

It is niceto meet you.

She mentioned that it was dangerousto stand near that machine.

2. following a noun or pronoun (N + Inf)

If the verb has an object that is a noun or a pronoun, it is almost always followed by an infinitive. This makes it easy for students to choose the correct form.

You asked me to call you.

The doctor advised Markto eat more vegetables. (Note that the verb “advise” normally takes a gerund, as in “The doctor advisedeating more vegetables.” But because there is a noun object in this sentence, we must use the infinitive. The noun rule supersedes the verb rule, which is great news for students.)

3. as the object of a verb (V + Inf)

This is the one position where both gerunds and infinitives are commonly used. It all depends on the verb. Some common ones are: ask, choose, decide, get, need, plan, promise, and want.

They wantto get their tests back as soon as possible.

The students are planning to have a party this Friday.

*ESL-Library’s new and improved gerund and infinitive lessons are coming soon. In those lessons, we put verbs into categories to help students figure out whether to use a gerund or an infinitive. Also, googling “gerunds and infinitives verb list” brings up several lists that students can use for reference.

One final teaching point:

Because both gerunds and infinitives retain their verb meanings (even though they function as nouns), they too can have objects. That means it’s not uncommon to see a sentence with two or more objects when gerunds or infinitives are in play. For example:

I enjoy studyingEnglish. (“studying” is the direct object of “enjoy,” and “English” is the direct object of “studying”)

My boss asked meto helpher. (“me” is the direct object of “asked,” “to help” is also the direct object of “asked,” and “her” is the direct object of “to help”)

29 comments

Sally says:

Sally says:

Thank you for your tips on the gerund and to infinitive. I am teaching this grammar point at the moment.

I wondered whether you could help me form an explanation regarding the negative of ‘to infinitive’, please.

The general negative is made by using ‘not’, for example,

We decided not to go to the party. However, with want, the negative is formed in another way.

We didn’t want to go to the party.

I have searched all my grammar books and I can’t find a simple explanation for the question, ‘Why are there two forms and how do I know which one to use?’ The ‘don’t / didn’t’ negative seems to refer to a few select verbs including appear / seem / expect and a few others.

Thank you for reading and thanks again for the above useful information.

Thanks for your excellent question! I hadn’t specifically thought of it before. This is a great idea for a future blog post!

I think that in general, the way to tell which verb should include the negative auxiliary “not” is to think of the meaning. In your example “We decided not to go to the party”, it would be strange to say “We didn’t decide to go…” because you DID decide. The decision has been made about not going to the party.

In the example “We didn’t want to go to the party”, you don’t want to do something. It would be a little strange to say “We wanted to not go” because we never say “I want to not do something”, we say “I want to” or “I don’t want to”. But you’re right, it would be handy to have a list of verbs like this. Let me think about it some more and write a blog post about it sometime in the near future. :)

anahita says:

Good question, Anahita. Boring, exciting, and thrilling are indeed participial adjectives, but they are not gerunds. Adjectives will always be describing a noun, but gerunds will not (because they ARE the nouns). Keep in mind that gerunds are usually actions, whereas adjectives are not.

For example:
– I watched a boring movie. (correct, boring is an adjective because it describes the noun movie)
– The movie was boring. (correct, boring is an adjective because it describes the noun movie)
– I watched a boring. (incorrect, boring is not a noun/gerund)

– I went skiing. (correct, skiing is a noun/gerund)
– Skiing is fun. (correct, skiing is a noun/gerund)
– I went skiing mountain. (incorrect because skiing is not an adjective)

Thank you! I’m so glad you found this helpful. “Used to” is confusing for students, so I will definitely write a blog post on that, possibly this week or next week. I’ll leave you a message when it’s ready. Thanks for the good idea! :)

Anna says:

Jul 7, 2013 at 5:11 am

Tanya,
Great stuff, by the way. You’ve got some wonderful knowledge and present it very clearly. Just in relation to your point N + inf and the noun rule superseding the verb rule. What do you make of the sentence: “I can’t imagine Jeremy doing anything like that!” In this case, Jeremy follows imagine and it still uses the gerund. I’m thinking that there are probably a list of words that are going to be used with the gerund regardless of the a pronoun or noun. What do you think? Is this an exhaustive list that you know of? Or does it just keep on giving?
Anna

Thanks for your comments! Unfortunately for our students, there are always exceptions to every rule. One that I often point out is with “spend/waste time”. The rule of “N + Inf” doesn’t apply here, either. E.g., I spent a lot of time cleaning my room. / She wasted two hours watching TV. I hadn’t heard of the verb “imagine” being an exception before, so thanks for pointing that out!

I wish there were a complete list of exceptions to this rule, but I’ve never seen one. If teachers keep listing exceptions they know of here, maybe we’ll end up with a good list!

Tanya says:

Chaya says:

Tanya says:

Mar 3, 2013 at 4:31 pm

Another good idea! Thanks, Chaya. I know it takes a lot of time for teachers to make their own quizzes. I hope there are quizzes for every section one day. In the meantime, since there are many exercises in the Grammar Practice Worksheet lessons, you could always keep one page/exercise back from the students and give it to them the next day as a quiz.

Tanya says:

Feb 2, 2013 at 4:46 pm

Hi Wawan,

That’s a good question. I often keep it simple, and start out by asking students about their likes and dislikes. I make sure to use both gerunds and infinitives so that students naturally respond using both.

For example, I’ll ask student A, “What kind of movies do you like to watch?”, and student A will probably respond using an infinitive: “I like to watch romantic comedies.” Then I’ll ask student B, “What about you? Do you like watching romantic comedies, too?”, and student B will probably respond using a gerund: “No, I like watching action movies.” After talking to several students, I’ll point out the grammar they were using and start the gerunds & infinitives lesson. Make sure you ask Wh-questions and not Yes/No questions so that students have to use the grammar naturally in their responses.

Another activity I’ve often done as a warm-up is to cut up a bunch of paper slips and write verbs that take either a gerund or an infinitive on them. Students can get into groups, and take turns picking up a verb and saying whether they think it should be followed by a gerund or an infinitive. You can make it into a game (whoever has the most slips of paper in the end, wins). Be aware that you’ll need to monitor the groups to make sure they’re giving the correct answers (or else you can write the answers on the back of the slips of paper). If this is your students’ very first introduction to gerunds & infinitives, this activity is better as a review.